Full Wet Areas in Your Bathroom

Full Wet Areas in Your Bathroom

Some friends of ours recently installed a full “wet area” in their bathroom. Whilst I’d often seen this in hotels and on holiday when staying in Villas, I’d never really conisdered the idea for the home. So, I was a little sceptical when I went round to have a look at my friends new wet room.

But, I was absolutely gobsmacked by how good it looked.

Wet rooms don’t naturally spring to mind when considering a bathroom renovation project, but perhaps they should. Marc informed me that the store told him they sell quite a few of these types of installations these days. Most installations are for “wet areas” within the bathroom, but some go the full nine yards and make the entire bathroom a wet area as well. The store told him that about a third of their bathroom sales now incorporate a wet area of some description.

Marc’s bathroom was a superb mix of slate and light grey with irregularly placed “sparkling” tiles. I understand they have glass flecks in them to give the sparkling effect. They looked awesome.

The shower area was cordoned off by a floor to ceiling glass screen and with a cushioned door giving access. The floor was totally covered in non-slip tiles. There was a gentle slope down to the soakaway at the centre of the shower. Appranely you do have to be very careful about the angle of the floor slope. Too much and it can lead to under floor leakage, too little and obviously the bathroom can flood.

The worst part of the installation was having the waterproofing installed. The technical term is tanking and this simply has to be the best available otherwise all sorts of damage can occur in your home.

Most bathroom stores now offer turnkey project management where they employ all the right professionals and manage the entire installation process. This does come up slightly more expensive, but does give you the comfort of having a single point of contact. It does also make sue you use properly qualified people for the plumbing, electrics and waterproofing. This is key in  my opinion.

You should also make sure you check your wet room for any signs of leakage in the first few months after installation. If there are going to be problems, this is the most likely time they will occur. Also keep an eye out for any mold appearing. If you do get issues, refer back to the store.

So, after being impressed with Marc’s installation, I’m going to go and check out some designs for my own home. In fact I found a site that might help, you can find it at http://wetrooms.org if you’re interested. Good luck.

UPVC Sash Windows

UPVC Sash Windows

Some people think that UPVC Sash Windows are a crime, and to be fair I can understand that view being originally from the U.K. Certainly there are “conservation” areas in the U.K where sash windows are a planning requirement. I used to live in such a home in the Harrow area of Greater London so I speak from experience.

The sash windows we had installed were old and were having to undergo constant maintenance. They were constantly breaking down, the rope was old and freyed and the frames starting to buckle. Not only did this make opening and shutting difficult it also made keeping the house warm in winter extremely difficult and expensive. There was also a double whammy in that we lived opposite an Underground station that was noisy deep into the night and often had maintenance works going on through the night.

So, we sat down and talked to the local planners as to what we could do. I had to admit to being surprised that they were open to the installation of modern UPVC frames. Perhaps local authorities do move with the times?

Anyway, there were some constraints on the nature of window we were allowed to install, but working with a window company who were sympathetic to local planning requirements we went ahead and installed UPVC Sash Windows.

What a difference. Our winter energy bills plummeted and we immediately benefitted from almost complete eradication of noise from the Tube. At last I could get a good night’s sleep!

They also looked brilliant and were super easy to operate. Not only did they slide up and down like true sash windows, but they could also (at the flick of a switch) be opened outwards as well. This made cleaning an awful lot easier, although day to day we always slid the windows open.

Even if you are not in one of these types of conservation areas or subject to planning constraints, I think that these types of window offer a really beautiful alternative to normal double glazing. So, if you are looking to install new glazing, then why not check out UPVC Sash Windows and see if they will suit your home.

I also found a great site on the subject which you can find here http://upvcsashwindows.net

Triple Glazed Windows As An Alternative

Triple glazed windows are becoming more “fashionable” these days and you can see why given the number of benefits they potentially offer you. Orginitaing in the cold countries of the Scandanavia and the Northern Territories of Canada where even the smallest percentage increase in energy efficiency is important they are now gaining wider use.

The main two benefits are obviously energy conservation, so decreasing your monthly power bill, but the also provide excellent noise insulation. Indeed, we have friends in Vancouver who are right on one of the main routes out of the City and trucks thunder past at every hour of the day. So…they installed some sound insulation and triple glazing…you can’t hear a thing now! I was amazed at the difference.

But it has to be said that the main reason for installing triple glazing is for heat retention and the subsequent savings that offers on your energy bills. With the extra pane of glass you won’t be surprised to learn that a triple glazed window is approximately 33% more efficient at keeping heat in as opposed to double glazing. In all honesty I thought it might be a little more due to the cumulative effect, but…the experts say 33%. Who am I to argue?

So, how do triple glazed windows work? Well, there is generally a UPVC frame that has three slits cut into it. The panes of glass are dropped in and sealed to for a vaccuum so that heat cannot transfer between the panes of glass. Some models put inert gases such as Argon or Krypton (yes it does exist) to help prevent heat transfer as well. The unit is then sealed into the window area so that it is airtight and you have added extra insulation to your home. The image above shows the difference in heat loss between double and triple glazing.

So, in these dires days, yes it would cost to install such windows, but you would be saving on your nergy bills, they look good and you can have the comfort of knowing at least you are doing your bit for the planet!

I found an excellent website about triple glazed windows, you can find it here:- http://tripleglazedwindows.net

The Pros and Cons of Dormer Windows

Dormer windows, derived from the French ‘dormir’ which means to sleep, have become a particularly trendy type of window purely because they’re so convenient. Inside accommodation where there’s a distinct lack of head space they create a fantastic area along with letting much more brightness through into the room.

Such windows have a vertical and has its own individual rooftop. They do have to appear good and complement the building, so the size and positioning of the window is a crucial concern. On occasion you see situations where the dormer is definitely poorly situated or clearly the incorrect size and in such cases they definitely don’t look right and can look a downright eyesore. They are normally used in houses where the top floor is not of full height or where a loft conversion has been done.

For the majority situations Dormer Windows have been a method to enlarge the accessible space in rooms that go into rooftop space. Evidently they increase headroom including that extra little bit of floor area “into” the window.

An additional example of a method to gain extra lighting may be skylights, but they will not have the benefit of giving added space.

A false dormer, sometimes called a blind dormer is a window that can only be seen from the outside. In such situations a process called “roofing off” is used so that there is no effective added room inside. These sorts of dormers are purely aesthetic.

You will discover numerous varied varieties of dormer to choose from when considering adding them to your home, here are some ideas for you:

• Gabled Dormer Window: Where the front of the dormer window rises to a summit at the crest of the dormer roof. Therse type of windows are also known as a dog-house dormer.
• Hipped Dormer: On hipped roof dormers the roof slopes back towards the building.
• Flat roofed: They have flat roofs – yes, really.
. Eyelid Dormer: A low down dormer box on the slope of a roof. They have no sides, the roof being carried over it in a undulating contour. The base of an eyebrow dormer is flat and the crown is curved.

More Info? Try http://dormerwindows.net
Hopefully this brief article has been able to offer you an appreciation of the way good Dormer Windows may to actually enrich and also increase the value of your house.